1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle power control system provided with a charging terminal for inputting power from outside a vehicle to a secondary battery of the vehicle, and a discharging terminal for outputting power to outside the vehicle from the secondary battery, as well as a power control method.
2. Description of Related Art
Hybrid vehicles having both an engine and an electric motor, and electric vehicle having only an electric motor, and the like are provided with a secondary battery for storing electric power (hereinafter simply referred to as “power”) to be supplied to the electric motor. It is possible to have this secondary battery be able to be charged from an alternating current (AC) power supply outside the vehicle, as well as be able to supply power stored in the secondary battery to an AC load outside the vehicle (for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-27811 (JP 2009-27811 A). The AC power supply outside of the vehicle is a commercial power supply, for example, and the AC load outside of the vehicle is a household electrical appliance, for example.
In JP 2009-27811 A, a charging terminal for inputting power from an AC power supply outside the vehicle, and a discharging terminal that outputs power from the secondary battery of the vehicle to an AC load outside the vehicle are formed by a single plug.
In JP 2009-27811 A, when the AC power supply is connected to the common charging/discharging plug, the AC power from the AC power supply is input from the plug, converted to direct current (DC) power by a predetermined inverter, and then charged to the secondary battery. Also, when the AC load is connected to the plug, power stored in the secondary battery is converted to AC power by a predetermined inverter, and supplied to the AC load from the plug.